All

Every two years we conduct our employee survey in order to obatin feedback from our employees, discover weaknesses, and implement suitable actions to eliminate those weaknesses. The analysis on team level and of other criteria (e.g. function, executives vs. leader vs. employee, gender, age group) support the derivation of fitting concrete improvement actions on all levels. Around 76% of all employees participated in the last employee survey, the share of men and woman - where gender was specified - complies approximately with gender proportion in the group (participation rate man around 67%, women around 32% and for the first time diverse around 1%).

In addition to the employee survey, we also gauge employee satisfaction every six months through a pulse survey. This helps us obtain a current snapshot of the mood at the company and verify whether the introduced actions have been successful. This lets us make quick adjustments if necessary. The pulse survey in November 2020 saw a 77% response rate among the group.

After being enacted in May 2016, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has had a binding effect since May 25, 2018. Deutsche Telekom implemented the requirements contained therein in a three-stage, EU-wide project:

• Preparation: Group Privacy drew up a set of standardized rules, known as Binding Interpretations, that apply to the entire Group. They were developed in collaboration with the national companies. The Binding Interpretations include specific recommendations and best practice examples to implement the EU regulation.
• Implementation: From January 2017 to May 25, 2018, the new requirements based on the Binding Interpretations were introduced throughout the Group. This involved checking and, where necessary, adjusting all the IT systems. All employees were made aware of the General Data Protection Regulation, and more than 10,000 experts received intensive training.
• Evaluation: The implementation period was followed by a review phase during which all affected Group entities were asked whether they had put all relevant requirements into action. In addition to this, GDPR compliance was randomly inspected at 28 companies.

Telekom has been supporting the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) since 2008. The RMI is the largest initiative in the economy for responsible raw material procurement. Its aim is to identify conflict raw materials and to prevent their extraction and trading with them. The RMI goes back to a working group founded in 2008 by the Global enabling Sustainability Initiative and Responsible Business Alliance for the sustainable extraction of raw materials. Since then, the number of metalworking and smelting companies that participate in the RMI has grown steadily.

ICT products can contain processed minerals, some of which are mined under inhumane, illegal conditions. The proceeds are often used to finance civil wars in Africa. Telekom is committed to ensuring that the devices it trades do not contain any raw materials produced under critical conditions. It supports the efforts of the Responsible Minerals Initiative, which is committed to responsible raw material extraction and procurement. Their central instrument is the Conflict-Free Smelter Program and the corresponding Smelter Database, which is used to control the metalworking and smelting plants (Smelter). Independent auditors check whether the raw materials obtained come from responsible sources and create publicly available audit reports for each processed metal. To make it easier to report abuses, there are contact addresses where whistleblowers can submit their information anonymously.

After Telekom signed the UN Women Empowerment principles in 2015, we also signed the UN LGBT standards in 2019. For our work on equality, we received the Female Recruiting Award at women @ work fair in 2019. The magazine Brigitte honored Deutsche Telekom as one of the best employers for women and in the "Gender Diversity Index" of the Boston Consulting Group Deutsche Telekom achieved first place in the DAX 30 companies.

After Telekom signed the UN Women Empowerment principles in 2015, we also signed the UN LGBT standards in 2019. For our work on equality, we received the Female Recruiting Award at women @ work fair in 2019. The magazine Brigitte honored Deutsche Telekom as one of the best employers for women and in the "Gender Diversity Index" of the Boston Consulting Group Deutsche Telekom achieved first place in the DAX 30 companies.